Second Edition supports library through
sales

If you think Cedar Mill doesn’t
have a clothing store, you’re mistaken. If you think you can’t
buy furniture or sports equipment here, you’ve missed a good bet. Tucked
away in the northeast corner of the library parking lot is a small
shop just filled with quality items waiting for you to buy, and all
the profits go
to support our private, non-profit Community Library. This year Second
Edition Resale will give the Cedar Mill Community Library Association
over $100,000!

And if you think that you have to take your no-longer-needed items to
a Goodwill dropoff station, you have a better alternative that will
keep the benefits right here in the community. Second Edition welcomes
donations of
clothing, housewares, toys, sports equipment, home decorations and furniture,
all in good condition, of course. Recycling your stuff and benefiting
the library – what a deal!

The private, non-profit Cedar Mill Community Library was founded
by local residents in 1976. To help support the library financially,
a rummage sale “fondly known as M.E.S.S.” – Miscellaneous Etcetera
Super Sale – was organized and held annually in the library parking
lot.

So many donations were coming in all year for the M.E.S.S. that some
of the volunteers wondered if they could support an established shop.
When the lease expired on the old hardware/variety store, which originally
occupied
part of the library building, library space expanded from 5,000 to 16,000
square feet. The group went to the library Board of Directors with their
idea. The Board agreed to share some space and gave a little seed money
to get the
shop started. It was a good decision. Board treasurer Mark Sleasman,
a local attorney, who was dropping off some rugs, said “Second Edition is a
big and stable source of funding for the library. ”

A dedicated group of over 75 volunteers. appraise, clean, mend, price,
and ring up merchandise. Mary Cantwell was on sales duty when I visited
last week. She has been volunteering for about a year. “Its one way I can
help the library, plus I have a good time and I meet interesting people,” she
explains. The only
employee of the shop, Charlene McKeehan, works half-time coordinating the volunteers.

“
Appraising items is an all-important activity,” explains Sue Conger, a
founding member of Second Edition. “It sets the value and maintains our
high quality.” Library supporters select their very best to donate and
are very generous in their giving. “Often children’s clothing has
been outgrown before the tags are removed, and many of the women’s items
have never been worn at all – sometimes we find the sales slip in the bag
when we receive an item,” Conger notes. The selection turns over quickly.
Library staffer Becky Reichard stops in about once a week during her break to
find clothes for her daughter.

Treasures turn up regularly. Currently there’s a hand-knotted oriental
rug of considerable value. Look for it near the sales desk (if it has not yet
sold!). A silver plated soprano saxophone that was played in the Big Band era
was rebuilt and sold to a collector. A gold necklace was donated by a jeweler. “When
we receive something really interesting or valuable, our policy is to always
put it out for sale to our regular customer for at least 30 days. If it hasn’t
sold at that point, we may take it to a consignment shop. One of our volunteers
is learning how to sell on eBay, so we may do some of that in the future,” Conger
mentions.

Second Edition is open six days a week, from 10 to 8 Tuesday, Wednesday
through Saturday from 10 to 5, and Sunday from 12:30 to 4:30. Mondays the
volunteers
are busy creating new displays and putting out new merchandise for your week’s
shopping. Good quality stuff can be brought in anytime they’re open, although
they suggest phoning first at 503-644-6395. They’re located at the east
corner of the Library building (on the north side of the Milltowner Shopping
Center at Cornell and Saltzman) and online at cedarmill.org/library/resale_shop.html
. Stop by on your next library visit and discover whatyou’ve been missing!